House to vote on offshore drilling bill - Yahoo! News

House to vote on offshore drilling bill - Yahoo! News: "Fri Dec 1, 5:04 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, who will yield to a Democratic majority in January, on Friday agreed to allow a vote on a limited offshore oil and natural gas drilling bill, which would open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida.

House Majority Leader John Boehner decided to allow the vote on the limited drilling bill passed by the Senate. The move ends months of jockeying by House Republicans who had tried to convince their Senate colleagues to support a bill that would open nearly all U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters more than 100 miles offshore.

With Congress facing an abbreviated 'lame duck' session before it adjourns later this month, key House Republicans capitulated.

The plan to rescind a 25-year ban on drilling off Florida's coast and redistribute billions of dollars in federal royalties to four nearby Gulf Coast states is set for a vote on Tuesday.

Under the approach chosen by leaders, debate will be limited to 40 minutes and no amendments can be offered, but a two-thirds majority is required for the bill to pass."